Non-Alcoholic Beer
Big Drop Brewing Co
UK alcohol-free beer company whose beers are brewed to 0.5% ABV from the start rather than having the alcohol stripped out of a full-strength brew afterwards. Galactic Milk Stout, Pine Trail Pale Ale, Paradiso Citra IPA and Reef Point Craft Lager are internationally decorated, full-flavoured beers built to taste like the real thing.
- Type
- Non-Alcoholic Beer
- ABV
- 0.5% ABV or less
- Format
- Cans (330ml)
- Made in
- Ipswich, Suffolk, England, UK
- Since
- 2016
Big Drop was launched in 2016 by Rob Fink, a former City lawyer who went looking for a decent alcohol-free beer to replace his usual craft pints and found nothing worth drinking. He teamed up with school friend James Kindred, and with experimental brewer Johnny Clayton (previously of Wild Beer Co, now Big Drop's Head of Production), to build what the company bills as the world's first brewery dedicated solely to alcohol-free beer.
Instead of brewing a normal-strength beer and stripping the alcohol out afterwards, Big Drop brews to a capped 0.5% ABV from the start, using over 20 specialty grains including barley, rye, wheat and oats to build body and flavour without relying on alcohol to carry it. Worth noting on the labelling side: UK government guidance (voluntary, not law) reserves the 'alcohol-free' descriptor for drinks at or below 0.05% ABV, so 0.5% beers like Big Drop's are marketed and shelved as alcohol-free without meeting that guidance figure - though a government consultation has proposed raising the threshold to 0.5%.
Since 2016 Big Drop has become one of the most decorated brewers in the no/low category, taking World's Best in the Flavoured Low Alcohol category at the World Beer Awards 2020 for Galactic Milk Stout, alongside medals at the International Beer Challenge, International Brewing Awards, US Open Beer Championship and European Beer Challenge. The company does not own a brewery - founder Rob Fink has said he never intended to build one - and the beers are contract-brewed under licence at partner breweries in the UK and overseas, including production sites in Chicago, Toronto and Melbourne. They are stocked in major UK supermarkets and sold internationally, including in the US and Australia.
Big Drop Brewing Co lineup
- Galactic (Milk Stout)
- Pine Trail (Pale Ale)
- Paradiso (Citra IPA)
- Reef Point (Craft Lager)
- Woodcutter (Brown Ale)
- Poolside (DDH IPA)
Recognition: World's Best, Flavoured Low Alcohol category, World Beer Awards 2020 (Galactic Milk Stout)
“The beer has rich, strong coffee and chocolate notes at the start, followed by a surprising sweetness, and then a gorgeously creamy lingering taste.”— Saint BarbaraDrinks Digest →
Where to drink Big Drop Brewing Co
2 verified venues pour Big Drop Brewing Co.
The Epicurean
Ancoats
The Epicurean is an award-winning independent craft-beer bottle shop, and this Henry Street unit is the group's Ancoats flagship — its first city-centre store, opened in November 2021 next door to natural-wine merchant Kerb. Owner Simon Yarwood's shop packs more than 500 beers across nine fridges, and its low-and-no range is one of the deepest in Greater Manchester: a 'beer library' of alcohol-free options rather than a token shelf. Chilled 0.0–0.5% picks run from Big Drop's Galactic Stout and Beavertown's Lazer Crush to Tiny Rebel's Clwb Tropicana, Athletic Brewing's alcohol-free lager and Vandestreek's grapefruit IPA. It is a bottle shop rather than a bar, but for taking home a genuinely broad spread of alcohol-free craft beer it has few rivals in the city.
Cabin Boys Brewery
Kendall-Whittier
Cabin Boys is a Tulsa brewery in Kendall-Whittier that keeps Big Drop Brewing Co.'s Pine Trail Pale Ale on for anyone not drinking — a genuine non-alcoholic pale ale at 0.5% from one of the best-regarded alcohol-free brewers in the world, rather than a token domestic lager. In a brewery taproom the specific choice of NA beer matters more than the fact of having one: Big Drop brews to be alcohol-free from the start rather than removing alcohol afterwards, which is why its beers taste like beer. Open from 4pm midweek and noon at weekends, closing at 9pm early in the week and 11pm from Thursday.
Frequently asked about Big Drop Brewing Co
Big Drop Brewing Co is a non-alcoholic beer made in Ipswich, Suffolk, England, UK with 0.5% ABV or less. UK alcohol-free beer company whose beers are brewed to 0.5% ABV from the start rather than having the alcohol stripped out of a full-strength brew afterwards. Galactic Milk Stout, Pine Trail Pale Ale, Paradiso Citra IPA and Reef Point Craft Lager are internationally decorated, full-flavoured beers built to taste like the real thing.
Flagship Galactic Milk Stout is described by the brewery itself as 'honeycomb covered in chocolate' - rich, unctuous and an absolutely decadent treat of a beer..
0.5% ABV or less. Formulations can vary by market — always check the label for the exact figure.
We list 2 verified venues pouring Big Drop Brewing Co, across Manchester, Tulsa. Big Drop Brewing Co is also widely available to buy online and at non-alcoholic bottle shops.
Other non-alcoholic beers worth trying include Athletic Brewing, Heineken 0.0, Guinness 0.0, Best Day Brewing, Partake Brewing, Bravus Brewing. Each has its own profile — browse them to compare.